LHS Senior Earns Medal At 2024 IHSA Journalism State Finals

LEMONT, IL. — For the fourth straight year, a Lemont High School student brought home hardware from the journalism state finals. Senior Tess O’Brien placed third in Editorial Cartooning at the 2024 IHSA Journalism State Finals, which were contested at Heartland Community College on April 26, according to a release from LHS.

Senior Ella Murray also made her second state finals appearance. Murray competed in the Newspaper Design category for the second straight year, while O’Brien was making her state finals debut.

Each won sectional titles in their respective competitions in Sectional 7, marking just the second time in school history Lemont had multiple sectional titlists in the same year, the school said. The top three finishers in each category in sectional competition earn state finals berths.

Lemont has advanced qualifiers to the IHSA Journalism State Finals 15 consecutive years dating back to 2009 (not including 2020, when the IHSA State Series was cancelled). Multiple Lemont students have qualified for the state finals 14 straight seasons (not including 2020), and Lemont tallied a school-record seven qualifiers in 2014, according to a release.

The IHSA Journalism State Finals includes contests in 18 newspaper and yearbook related categories, with students being asked to meet a different challenge in each competition, according to a release.

Lemont’s Journalism advisor is Brandon Hillary, and its head Yearbook sponsor is Cara Forde.